Happy Valley actor James Norton will star alongside Robson Green for the six-part series, which is set in 1950s Cambridgeshire.

Adapted from the novel, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, the series is written for ITV by Daisy Coulam, who has previously scripted EastEnders and Casualty.

Set against the backdrop of the real hamlet of Grantchester, the drama focuses upon the life of Sidney Chambers (Norton), a charismatic, charming clergyman who turns investigative vicar when one of his parishioners dies in suspicious circumstances.

Executive Producer Diederick Santer says of the series: “Grantchester is a real labour of love for me and [production company] Lovely Day. Sidney is a charming, but complex character, a man of faith burdened by his past despite a distinguished wartime record, he’s funny, dashing and inquisitive. He loves being a parish priest in the exquisite village of Grantchester, but somehow it’s not enough and he still finds time to fall in and out of love and solve crimes.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

I have spent a lovely day today at Ludlow, exploring the woods, town and of course tea-rooms. I have been to the castle before so didn't go inside this time but I will again one day.

I only know of one crime novel set in Ludlow but do let me know if there are more.

Phil Rickman'sThe Smile of a Ghost, the seventh in his Merrily Watkins series, is set in Ludlow:

The border town of Ludlow has it all: exquisite medieval streets, an imposing ruined castle, a parish church the size of a cathedral and a weight of history and legend. Wealthy people, famous people, have come to Ludlow to live. A sad teenage boy comes here to die ... dramatically, at sunset, in a fall from the ruins. Accident or suicide? Either way, no great mystery. Or is there? Robbie Walsh was the nephew of former Detective Sergeant Andy Mumford, newly - and reluctantly - retired from West Mercia CID. When Mumford's ailing mother becomes convinced she's still seeing her dead grandson in the old town, he brings in Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum and Deliverance consultant to the Diocese of Hereford. Is it dementia, delusion or something even more disturbing? Both scepticism and the dark underside of belief threaten Phil Rickman's engagingly open-minded heroine in this brilliantly structured, atmospheric thriller.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Reviewed by Susan White.
(Read more of Susan's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

People go missing every day. Sometimes they walk out of their lives and sometimes they are taken against their will. After the police have done everything they can - and if the person still cannot be found - what then? Retired Detective Superintendent's Leonard Frank's daughter has perhaps more knowledge and resources than most but when she is warned off her investigating her father's mysterious disappearance by her superiors, she has no choice but to call in a specialist people-finder.

David Raker is already known and disapproved of by most police officers he has met. He is an ex-journalist and therefore perhaps their suspicions of him are understandable but they also question some of his methods. Because, of course, he doesn't have to follow the same strict rules in his investigations as they do. So he is a bit suspicious when serving police officer Melanie Craw approaches him to help track down a missing person and very surprised when he learns that it is her father, Leonard Franks.

Leonard and Ellie Franks lived in an isolated cottage on the moors in Dartmoor. Leonard went out to the woodpile to collect wood for the fire one winter afternoon and never came back. His disappearance, without clothes, money or telephone has everyone stumped - how was he spirited away from the house from which the moor stretches in full view for miles? Is the disappearance connected to an old case he worked, is it payback for a conviction and if he went willingly, why?

As Raker investigates, he struggles with the reluctance of Frank's old colleagues to talk to him but gradually pieces fall into place and then he finds himself up against men who will do anything to keep their secrets, even threaten the very people closest to him.

This is a really pacy thriller, the action packed into only a few days. The characters are very well written and engaging and I found myself understanding some of the actions of even the bad guys in the story. This is the fifth novel to feature the character David Raker but is easily read as a standalone. David Raker is new to me and I find myself wanting to read the other novels featuring him - this is an exciting read - a real find.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Now That You're Gone by Julie Corbin, June 2014, Hodder & Stoughton, ebook

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

Set in Scotland, Isla’s life is turned upside down when her twin brother Dougie is found drowned in the Clyde in Glasgow. Isla can’t accept that her brother, an ex-marine, could have died in such a banal way. He’d only had 4 pints to drink in a local pub and he should have been able to swim to safety after falling in the river. As he worked as a private investigator, she is sure that he must have put himself in danger possibly as a result of his investigation into the disappearance of a young girl called Lucy. She thinks that his death was more than simply an accident as the police have concluded and is determined to prove it.

While the novel focuses on Isla’s attempts to get to the bottom of what caused Dougie’s death, the real story is about her life, her relationship with Dougie, her sister Marie, her parents, and her own children and ex-husband, and how she starts to re-evaluate aspects of those relationships. It’s also about her coming to terms with the shock of Dougie’s death and its unexpectedness. It was such a stupid and avoidable death, and she has to discover that there was something more to it as a way of giving his death more meaning. Her investigations lead to her making discoveries about Dougie, uncovering some of his secrets and learning things about him and his life that she didn’t know or realize. A short, excellent read that manages to capture the sense of loss when someone close dies, and the sense of desperation to make sense of it all.

Friday, September 19, 2014

I've posted about Jane Austen and crime before but here's what's Jane-related and coming out in the next few months:

From Stephanie Barron, after a three year gap, the eleventh in her Jane Austen as sleuth series, Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas, is published in the US next month:

Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted.

Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide dies in a tragic accident whose circumstances Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane's fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly-crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?

And in July 2015, Mr and Mrs Darcy return in Carrie A Bebris's seventh book in the series, The Suspicion at Sanditon (Or, the Disappearance of Lady Denham), no blurb available yet.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Reviewed by Lynn Harvey.
(Read more of Lynn's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

He spotted a group of little boys, done up not as super-heroes or figures of modern legend but in outsized pin-striped suits and ties. One had a big briefcase, another carried a toy mobile phone, a third waved a rolled-up umbrella about.
"They're being you," said a voice at his elbow. It was Mordecai Hershkovits.

Haringey, North London, a spring day.
41 year-old local “journo” Rex Tracey sits in a traffic jam at the wheel of his mate Terry's car and he is terrified. Beside him, Terry tells him to calm down. But Rex hasn't driven since the accident ten years ago and tomorrow he has to retake his test. Photographer Terry has agreed to give Rex some coaching as they drive to Finsbury Park to interview a local history writer. Rex botches his parking and crunches into the car behind. Unfortunately its driver turns out to be Dr George Kovacs, not only the aforesaid local author but also a disagreeable neighbour of Terry's. After some prickly words the trio enter the park which today is full of people celebrating spring, including a Hasidic family picnicking at a table despite being harangued by a young Muslim man. Terry's photography session with Kovacs is cut short by a woman's scream. Turning, they see the picnicking family slumped over their dishes as if asleep. But they are dead. And the screaming woman is accusing a group of young Muslim men of spraying something at the family. The youths scatter and run. Dr Kovacs, visibly shaken, also leaves in a hurry.
Rex and Terry, Geiger-countered, multiply swabbed and issued with contact cards in the event they feel ill, go back to News North London's offices to upload their copy and photos onto its website. The park is filled with chemical-suited techs; soldiers are sealing its centre behind opaque plastic. Helicopters overhead, the Muslim boys – said to have followed a radical teacher – are being hunted in a manner likely to turn other young men to their cause. The dead family were members of the Hasidic Dukovchiner sect, a group already in the news with the disappearance of another member, 14 year-old Micah Walther, the previous year. Rex and Terry decide to drop by Stamford Hill on the way home. There, they find the shomrim – a kind of community policing group – out in force. Rex spots one he knows, Mordecai Hershkovits, who tells him that the family's name was Bettelheim – that the Muslim boys need to be caught – and if Rex wants to know any more, he should try "vegetables". Which turns out to be the name of a nearby shop. Terry, feeling unwell, sets off home. But Rex stays to interview the shop's disparate husband and wife owners, also Dukovchiner, who tell him that the Bettelheims were a quiet family. A quiet family from a quiet sect. Yet a sect with a missing boy and an entire family dead. Rex has almost reached home when ex-News North London reporter, Ellie Mehta, turns up like a bad penny, eager to tell him that his friend Terry has been arrested for the murder of Dr Kovacs...

THE TOTTENHAM OUTRAGE is the second crime novel by writer M H Baylis (aka Matt Baylis, aka Matthew Baylis) featuring Haringey journalist Rex Tracey. It follows on from Tracey’s début in DEATH AT THE PALACE (“Alexandra”) and continues Baylis's love song to the melting pot which is modern-day Haringey. With his photographer friend Terry accused of murder, Rex continues to look into the deaths of the Bettelheims and Dr Kovacs. His investigations take him deeper into the lives of the Hasidic community of Stamford Hill, the roots of whose sects and Rebbe lie in the villages of 18th century Poland. This is a richness of traditions not often explored in crime fiction although it brings to mind aspects of Michael Chabon's alternative-future crime novel, THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION. Embedded into this modern tale of death in Finsbury Park are flashback narrations recounting the story of the shootings and failed anarchist robbery of 1909, the original "Tottenham Outrage". These narrated segments pop up in the text with no prompting – but, such is the assurance of Baylis's writing, the voice of its narrator, the mysterious and tough George Smith, is vivid and distinct from Rex's story and makes a great counterpoint to that of Rex.

I lapped up THE TOTTENHAM OUTRAGE: jam-packed both with characters and with character: funny, vivacious and enthralling. It's written with skill, observation, understanding and a relish for contemporary life in a teeming part of London that will, I hope, provide many more stories for Rex to tell. Read and enjoy.

I've recently received a press release from Hodder and Stoughton announcing new audiobook recording for all of Dorothy L Sayers books, starting with the release of Whose Body? tomorrow:

Hodder & Stoughton will publish the complete crime backlist of Dorothy L. Sayers as digital audiobooks. World rights excluding the USA were acquired from Georgia Glover of David Higham Associates. Editor Dominic Gribben said: "Dorothy L. Sayers is one of the great authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and a cornerstone of Hodder’s crime fiction publishing. We’re recording new editions – brilliantly read by Jane McDowell – to offer listeners a fresh, consistent way to experience these stories.”Hodder will publish 16 titles over the course of the next year beginning with the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Whose Body?, on September 18th 2014. Hodder will publish one title a month with the final title being published in December 2015.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Another publishing deal announced, this time it's Constable; they have signed up two books from Irish author Andrea Carter:

Constable has acquired world English language rights in WHITEWATER CHURCH by Andrea Carter in a two book deal.

WHITEWATER CHURCH is the first of a crime series set in a small town in the beautiful and remote Inishowen Peninsula in Ireland. When a skeleton wrapped in a blanket is found in the secret crypt of a deconsecrated church, local solicitor Ben (Benedicta) O'Keeffe finds herself drawn into the dark secrets of a rural community, as she negotiates between the official investigation and obstructive locals to uncover the truth of what happened.

Andrea Carter is a barrister living in Dublin. She lived and worked in the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal as a solicitor for a number of years. WHITEWATER CHURCH was one of the winners of the 2013 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair and received an Arts Council of Ireland Literature Bursary Award. Constable will publish in Autumn 2015.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Crossing the Line by Kerry Wilkinson, September 2014, 392 pages, Pan, ISBN: 1447247876

Reviewed by Mark Bailey.
(Read more of Mark's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

This is the eighth in the series of novels featuring Jessica Daniel (now a Detective Inspector) but is being pitched as the start of 'Season Two' as a signal that new readers can get on board comfortably without missing a lot of what is going on.

There are two main story elements here, the first starts right in the first chapter of the novel when a masked attacker begins a reign of terror by throwing acid in the face of a councillor (local politician) during a visit by the Home Secretary. This reopens a wave of media nostalgia as it is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the attacks of the Stretford Slasher - and that is the second main story theme. Running along with these is the personal situation of Jessica Daniel and her friends, especially her colleagues Izzy Diamond and, to a lesser extent, Esther Warren.

This is the first Jessica Daniel book that I have read and I was able to get up to speed with the character and her work and social situation very quickly so this is a good place to start the series. Having said that, I did enjoy it so much I bought all the earlier books in the series as e-books.

Why did I enjoy it – well Jessica Daniel is an engaging lead character and is developed by the author during the novel so you do get to know her. The supporting characters are also developed and they help to drive the plot along. The plot itself is coherent and makes sense – there are no wild leaps of logic.

My only real niggle when finishing the book, and the author does admit this in the afterword at the end, is that this novel does "feed into" the next novel, SCARRED FOR LIFE, which isn't out until next January.

CROSSING THE LINE is a good quality police procedural from an author that I will be following from now on.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

I received the following press release today; Faber have bought two books from Rod Reynolds:

Faber wins auction for debut thriller by UK author Rod Reynolds

Associate Crime Editor Katherine Armstrong bought UK, Commonwealth and European rights, excluding Canada, from Kate Burke at Diane Banks Associates for THE DARK INSIDE and an as-yet-unnamed second book.

Armstrong said: 'I am absolutely thrilled that Rod has decided to come to Faber. THE DARK INSIDE is a superbly assured debut novel and I very much look forward to introducing readers to Charlie Yates, his disgraced New York reporter who is sent to Texarkana to report on a spate of murders as local courting couples are being butchered at a popular date spot. When Charlie starts asking questions he comes into conflict with the local police and sheriff's departments and he soon realises that there's more to the town - and the story - than first meets the eye. Everyone, it appears, has something to hide. Loosely based on a real case, THE DARK INSIDE will appeal to fans of TRUE DETECTIVE, Tom Franklin and R. J. Ellory. Charlie is an engaging and sympathetic protagonist that readers will warm to and the narrative grips from the start and carries you along to the very last page. I'm very excited to see what Rod will do next.'

Burke said: ‘The fast reaction from editors to this incredible thriller was overwhelming and Faber’s pitch and vision blew us away. Both Rod and I are incredibly excited to be working with them.’

Reynolds is a recent graduate of City University's first two-year Crime and Thriller Creative Writing Masters course.

Faber will publish THE DARK INSIDE into trade paperback and eBook formats in summer 2015.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

In today's Book Trade, news of a publishing deal for ex-Met police officer Kate London:

Margaret Stead has bought world rights in Kate London's debut crime novel Post Mortem as part of a two book deal.

Until August 2014, Kate London was a detective constable in the Metropolitan Police's homicide squad, and a serving officer with the Met for 8 years. Post Mortem opens with a teenage girl and a police officer falling to their deaths from the roof of a London tower block. The investigation that follows tests the morality of all those involved and examines the inner workings of policing the capital. Corvus will publish Post Mortem in August 2015.

Margaret Stead comments: "Kate London is an exciting new author for Corvus. Post Mortem is an utterly gripping crime novel, grounded in the reality of how London is policed, by an author who has walked the beat. At the heart of Post Mortem are two wonderfully drawn women characters, police officers who negotiate the fine line between right and wrong in order to serve their city, and who will form the basis of a series. We are delighted to be publishing Kate."

Reviewed by Amanda Gillies.
(Read more of Amanda's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

This book is superb! A chilling and original storyline about nature versus nurture, it has you hooked right from the very first page and keeps you guessing almost to the end. The way the mystery killer tells their side of the story to the reader in the first person, while the rest is told in a more usual second person, only adds to its intrigue. There are a couple of hints of possible identities for the guilty party along the way and I particularly enjoyed how, at a certain point, you are told that while you might think you have worked everything out you should rest assured that you haven’t.

Set mostly in Dublin, the book opens with a rather nasty murder. Not only is it a rather frenzied killing but the murderer has also taken time after the act to arrange the body into a copy of the Hangman image from a tarot card. There is also a smudge of lipstick on the dead body’s lips – a final trademark of the killer. Meanwhile, somewhere else in Dublin, we are introduced to Sandra; a very shy and insecure woman who is sure her handsome husband is having an affair and is having a hard time convincing her friends that she isn’t making things up. She is also convinced that she is being followed, and it looks as if our mystery killer, having found their next victim, is getting ever closer.

Criminal psychologist Dr Kate Pearson is called in to help DI O'Connor solve the case, by building a profile of the killer. She comes to the conclusion that this is the work of a savage yet meticulous serial killer who has undoubtedly killed before and is highly likely to kill again…

If you like books that are a fairly quick read and don’t mess with your head but do keep you hooked then you are really going to love LAST KISS. It has an ending that you just can't see coming, even if you do manage to work out who the killer is. LAST KISS is the third novel written by the talented Louise Phillips. She is definitely a name to look out for.

Monday, September 08, 2014

It's been a few years but Elena Forbes's series detective, DI Mark Tartaglia, is back in The Jigsaw Man in January 2015:

In the early hours of the morning DI Mark Tartaglia is sent to a London hotel to investigate the murder of a young woman. When he recognises the victim, the case takes a dark and personal turn. Another case he has been investigating - the body of a homeless man found in a burnt out car - is also not what it seems. Tests reveal that the body has been assembled from the parts of four different people. Tartaglia now has a far more macabre puzzle to solve. With the clock ticking, and torn between the two investigations, he must decide where his priorities lie.

The previous (and third book in the series), Evil in Return, was published in 2010.

Thursday, September 04, 2014

Buried in the Past by Bill Kitson, March 2014, 224 pages, Robert Hale Ltd, ISBN: 0719812305

Reviewed by Terry Halligan.
(Read more of Terry's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

When a consignment of illicit diamonds en-route to London vanishes, together with the couriers. It isn't long before East End gangster Max Perry is found dead, having suffered some horrific torture. Accused of killing a rival, Max's nephew, Ray, is sentenced to life in prison. He is released twenty-five years later and is heading for Helmsdale when he is the victim of a terrible hit and run, but DI Mike Nash is convinced it was no accident. Following the murder of a garage mechanic, Nash discovers a link to an unidentified skeleton found years ago in the Helmsdale woodland. How do crimes committed long ago in London connect to the current wave of violence in Helmsdale? As the body count rises, the detectives struggle to keep pace with those who would prefer the truth to remain dead and buried.

The very tight plotting of this excellent story provides the colourful conversations and banter between the various superb characters that the author peoples his books with and which make it so realistic and that one can identify with from whichever work experience one comes from. The storyline follows several different threads, which requires some concentration, but eventually they will all combine in the gripping conclusion to this fascinating book.

As in previous books of his that I have reviewed namely DEPTH OF DESPAIR (2009) and BACK-SLASH (2011) once you start a Bill Kitson book they are unbelievable difficult to put down and I had great difficulty in closing this one also, until I reached the exciting conclusion. The author has published six previous stories in the DI Mike Nash series and I understand he also writes historical fiction and lighter stories set in Greece under the pen-name 'William Gordon'. I will certainly look out for them in the future. If you want to read a book that once started you won't want to put down then buy this one. Recommended.

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

The longlists for the Gold, Ian Fleming (Steel) and John Creasey Daggers were announced in July and now the shortlists have been announced along with the TV and Film Dagger shortlists and news about the Crime Thriller Club:

Press release:

The masters of intrigue, suspense and murders most horrid are honoured in shortlists announced today (2nd September) for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2014, held in association with the Crime Writers’ Association. The awards will be the culmination of a six-week Crime Thriller Club series, which starts on ITV3 on 15th September, with the winners of 11 awards honouring TV, books and film announced at the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards on Friday 24th October at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year

The First Rule of Survival by Paul Mendelson (Constable)
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny (Sphere/Little Brown)
Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly (Bantam/Transworld)
This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash (Doubleday/Transworld)

Brenda Blethyn for Vera
Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Honourable Woman
Keeley Hawes for Line of Duty
Sarah Lancashire for Happy Valley
Anna Maxwell Martin for Death Comes to Pemberley and The Bletchley Circle

The Best Supporting Actor Dagger

Mark Gatiss for Sherlock
David Leon for Vera
James Norton for Happy Valley
Mandy Patinkin for Homeland
Billy Bob Thornton for Fargo

The Best Supporting Actress Dagger

Amanda Abbington for Sherlock
Vicky McClure for Line of Duty
Helen McCrory for Peaky Blinders
Gina McKee for By Any Means
Michelle Monaghan for True Detective

This September is ITV3 Crime Thriller Season, featuring a TV series dedicated to crime writing. The Crime Thriller Club (sponsored by Specsavers) will, each episode, feature ‘Living Legends’ - a series of interviews with bestselling authors in the world of crime and thriller fiction. Authors interviewed this year will be Dean Koontz, Denise Mina, Robert Harris, Val McDermid, Michael Connelly and Lynda La Plante - who will all be members of the CWA Hall of Fame.

At the core of each episode of The Crime Thriller Club will be The Crime Thriller Book Club, in which six specially selected titles will be critiqued on air. This year’s selected titles are: